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The Macintosh Performa series was Apple's consumer product line from 1992 until 1997, when the iMac's release ended this product line.
The series was introduced in 1992 with the Performa 200, which was essentially a renamed Macintosh Classic II. Nearly every member of the Mac LC series existed as a Performa version, as did the Power Macintosh 6100.
The Performa versions typically shipped with a software bundle that was not included with the non-Performa versions. The bundles usually included ClarisWorks and some games, pre-installed over a slightly customized version of the Mac System software, denoted by a 'P' in the version number (e.g. System 7.1P5). The Performa versions of the System software introduced some useful features that were later rolled to the mainstream release, most notably the Launcher. System 7.5 ended the separate Performa releases.
Apple attempted wide retail distribution of the Performas in the early 1990s, but this was largely a failure due to a lack of attractive self-running demos, and the fact that most retailers let the units languish on the shelves, steering interested customers towards Windows PCs instead. It was not uncommon to see the demo machines crashed and the mouse missing, or to see the units turned off completely.
mac performa flat top 475 (http://www.everymac.com/images/cpu_pictures/apple_mac_lc_475.jpg)
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